Chapter 137: Moving Pieces

[Unknown location, Unknown time.]

"That is all I have to report."

The Asian Lunatic had returned to report about the situation that transpired in the school ground. There are three things that the Asian woman had chose to report; the treachery of Ananse the Spider, the death of Her and Abracadaver, and the discovery of the being that had evaded Him for all this while.

Surrounding her are the silhouettes of the other Lunatic lieutenants, all of whom are present to digest the report given by one of their own. The grey-white mane of the square-jawed Russian soldier-mobster known as Medved with a half-burned face glittered from the faint light emanating from the ceiling above them, his massive bear-like form clad with his greatcoat draped like a cape over his white and blue striped telyshanka. Opposite the Russian is a masked figure clad in a monochrome outfit consisting of a white hooded trenchcoat over a black and white checkered shirt over black cargo pants with knee-raised socks and black sneakers. The figure's skull-like bat mask completed the trademark appearance of the leader of Los Noches, Murcielargo.

"Well done." Two voices, a deep baritone male voice and a sweet soprano female voice, spoke as one praised Tigress.

Tigress looked up to see a pair of glowing emerald eyes glowed in the darkness, heralding the appearance of the overlord. The rest of its being stepped out from the darkness and the dark majesty and elegance of the demon's form is made apparent. Clad in a dashingly black coat with white fur collar, the coat stood in stark contrast to the demon's bright red skin and claws. The demon took confident strides forward in its long high-heeled boots, stopping just half a feet away from the kneeling Tigress.

"Thank you." Tigress reminded herself to express gratitude to the demon less she suffer some cruel and unusual punishment. That saying, she noticed that Him had took the news particularly well, considering that losing both Ananse and Abracadaver should constitute a severe loss of firepower to Him's forces. Him raised a claw to its chin as if to ponder on the situation reported by Tigress.

"The Tyrant gene is an impressive piece of science, though I must admit that having it becoming part of the constitution of Brick is yielding unexpected and impressive results. Hades had indeed taken the soul back to the world of the living. Now, we can move on to the third phase of our plan. Fennec? "

"You called for me?" An accented woman's voice heralded the appearance of the last of Him's lieutenants, and Tigress looked up to notice the slender form of a fair-skinned woman with azure blue eyes and an auburn-plaited ponytail running down from her khaki-colored beret. The form-fitting Prussian blue sleeveless turtleneck is draped over with a dark light-khaki coat that matched the woman's beret and pants.

"Would you be a dear and prepare the thunderbolts for our next act?"

"... Your wish is my command." Fennec answered albeit reluctantly.

"Is something the matter, my dear?" Him is aware of the tone that its lieutenant gave it.

"... Nothing." Fennec answered as a fog of reddish pink fog enveloped her and ahe dissappeared out of sight.

"Medved, Murcielargo, " The two men perked up as soon as their names were mentioned, "Time to plan for our spring offensive."

The two men walked up towards Him before leaving the room with Him in a veil of reddish-pibk fog, leaving only Tigress in the dimly lit room. The Asian woman finally stood up and there is a sense of relief within her as she was not instructed to do anything else for the time being. That would mean that Tigress is allowed to do her own things at her own accord, and she would take that opportunity.

[Freddie's Diner, Downtown Townsville, 10.30am]

Hal Reisz is once again sitting in the diner opposite the District Attorney's Office, awaiting for a particular guest to join him for tea time. His dark green eyes surveiled around the barely filled diner for any sign of his guest, and he is not disappointed. A fair woman with a pixie-bob hair dressed in a business suit entered into the diner and immediately made her way towards the olive-skinned man. As the woman took her seat before him, her misty-grey eyes framed by her glasses met with Hal's own eyes and the man noticed that the woman is particularly livid.

"Samael." Her cordial expression is in stark contrast to her livid expresson.

"Lilith." Hal greeted the woman back.

"What is the meaning of this?" Lilith produced a document from within her suit and placed a light brown envelope on the table.

Hal reached out nonchalantly towards the envelope before opening it, pulling out a document of sorts from within the envelope. Hal's eyes scanned through the document for a moment before a smile crept up on his face. The man puts down the letter on the table and soon placed both his elbows on the table before clasping his hand before his face. The two individuals stared at each other for a few moments, before finally the woman ended the silence.

"Crusaders." Lilith pointed out.

"What of it, Lilith?" Hal feigned ignorance.

"It is hard to ignore the corpses of your zealots, but it seemed that you have some friends in high places." Lilith asked the Levantine man.

"Now, now. If it were not for my men, those abominations would had done something for real to the students."

"I concurred, I have heard from Blossom about the situation." Lilith reluctantly conceded that the man has a point.

"Ah, the red-haired Miss Utonium."

"Still, you're too reckless Samael."

Hal's smile left his face as he heard the utterance of 'Samael' from the woman's lips. Samael Iscariot, the Grand Master of the Holy Papal Orders of the Roman Catholic Church. The grand Inquisitor of a secretive order tasked with the extermination of anything vile and unholy in the eyes of the Vatican. That is the role born by Hal Reisz, whose present role of being the World History teacher in Townsville High is but a mask to enter into Townsville to achieve his organization's goals.

"But for the school defenses that was set by Professor Utonium to be malfunctioning for the second time is particularly suspect." Hal answered with a dour expression.

"You know about the defenses?" Lilith raised her eyebrow, but the man gave her a rather disappointed look.

"Come on Lilith. We may be zealots, but we are not without intelligence."

"...So, did you achieve what you're in there for?"

"Yes and no. Before I move on, I need to put things into context first." Hal sighed as he produce something from within his coat and placed it on the table.

Lilith's gray eyes noticed the object on the table and an expression of disbelief came into view. The object that caught her disbelief is a simple piece of plating, with a symbol of a stylized flame surrounding a trident. She looked up to see that Hal's expression is still plastered with a stoic expression, and soon enough the man leaned back into his seat. The man waited for Lilith to give voice to the thing displayed before her, and Lilith reluctantly obliged.

"The Phosphoratii..."

"Yes, I am well aware of your clan's symbol. It is emblazoned on a broken object I found in Hong Kong a few years ago. An event involving the Red Dragons Triad. Your boys were involved in it, though they were on the Triad's side at the time. At the time, I was using a small gang to commit a heist on the gang on a particular artifact, but I did not expect that one of them took something else with them. To make a long story short, whatever it is they took they got from within this vase or sorts."

"...I see. So the contents is missing."

"Yes, though the only clue that we got is 'Phantom's Blood'. The trail went cold until your clan's patron decided to make a mess here in Townsville. The Townsville Police Department raid is the missing clue; we found out thief."

"Thief?"

"Though to be fair, the little thief had turned out to be an apex predator of unholy proportions. You will know her as Lou Fu, or Tigress. Crazy how things went, though in hindsight, perhaps the seed was sown even then."

"So Samael, why Townsville High?"

"Our moles in the Red Dragon Triad informed that the trail ended there somehow, and suffice to say anyone interested in the Phantom's Blood will end up being here. And now we return back to what I managed to get which makes things better and worse for all of us."

"I don't see how things could get better and worse at the same time in Townsville High."

"Better in the sense that somehow we managed to weaken the demon's own intelligence strength and we have now confirmed two of the most powerful demons had been exterminated. Worse in the sense that we accidentally helped Him purge its ranks of traitors, or at least the most overt ones. Actually...no...that is not the worst part. My clerics had sensed that something else is brought into the world, and it had changed the dynamic of power here in Townsville."

"What that is, I don't know. But I figured that somewhere, you and your boys have something to do with it."

"If you dare touch them, I will conflagrate you alive." Lilith gave out a rather uncharacteristic snarl.

"...I can't." Hal shook his head, surprising Lilith.

"Can't?"

"It seems that a vixen had taken a liking for your boys, and my men had suffered her wrath time and time again. Anyway, I can see that the peace will be maintained if they went to such an extent to prevent anyone else to take advantage of the boys. If I were you, I would do what it is needed to take ground first as everyone else other than TOCTSeF is a little wounded to do anything now. " Hal advised as he got up from his seat.

"That's rich, coming from the one that always starts the conflict." Lilith chided.

"Well, I'm planning to take a little break for now while it lasts." Hal stretched before continuing on.

"While dumping on me the piece of the puzzle of what you can't solve." Lilith rolled her eyes as she expressed her utter lack of appreciation.

"More like none of us can move unless you did, Lilith." Hal waved farewell before moving away from the bespectacled woman, leaving her alone to stare at the broken piece of pottery.

[Unknown location, Downtown Townsville, 10.30am]

The Dragon Head of the Red Dragons Triad's stoic expression is clear to his subordinates as they reported on the situation to him. It appear that the demon known as Her had met her demise, as its remains had been found under the sewers by his men before they had to retreat from the school turned battlefield. That alone would had been a crippling blow if it were not for the fact that it allowed Gor a reason to leave this forsaken city.

Alas, things are never this simple.

"What now, Tai Lo?"

Mark Gor's subordinates looked upon their leader with hopes of a direction from the Dragon Head. The Triad leader cum spymaster is aware that his men is not willing to stay here, especially when they have to deal with the literal devil itself. They may be godless communists, but that does not change the fact that they will buckle when faced with an unstoppable force. Still, Mark knew that his men will follow him to the depths of hell if he said the words.

Indeed, he will do just that. Dashing their hopes, but at the same time ensuring that their loyalty to the cause is without any further question.

"The higher ups are pleased with the developments, and have asked us to get Hecate at all cost."

"But...Tai Lo, that is insane!"

"Insane, but possible."

If there is any action that would condemn Mark to hell, this would be it. But Mark had done many despicable things and he had earned his reservations to that fiery realm, and this action is just to reaffirm his ticket. If his men died now, Mark knew that he has their bloods on his hands. But at least, Mark knew that he will not be bringing his men to hell with him. Given the situation, it appears that there are new avenues for allies and an enemy of an enemy is a friend, and right now there are a lot of friends to make. However, not all friends are created equal, and the question is which ones to cozy to.

[Outside the Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville, 10.30am]

Fennec's sky-blue eyes watched as a pair of young boys exiting from a home, one a young boyish teenager with a slight androgynous looks with a warm blonde hue in his hair and dark blue eyes and the other is a young teenager with a long braided carnelian red hair with subtle crimson red highlights and crimson red eyes. A sense of nostalgia entered into the woman's expression, and she continued on watching as the two teenagers continued on walking down the walkway.

"I knew you'll be here again." Fennec turned around to see a blonde Asian woman with several strands of braids and aquamarine eyes. Before long, the Asian woman sat beside Fennec with only a feet of space between them.

The woman beside Fennec is known as the Tigress, and she is like Fennec, one of Him's top lieutenants. In addition to being the leader of the White Tigers Triad, she has the unique role within their organization of being their chief smuggler and procurement officers. With the disappearance of Ananse the Spider, Tigress had also taken the responsibility of being the spymaster of Him's organization. Fennec had always be cautious about Tigress, but with the recent addition to Tigress' portfolio, she had increased her caution towards the Asian woman.

What do you want, Le Tigre?" Fennec decided to get to the crux of the Asian woman's presence.

"You're always here when you're not doing anything. It is very unhealthy to be stalking in front of the Rowdyruff Boy's home."

"What I do during my free time has nothing to do with you." Fennec showed her displeasure at Tigress.

Silence descended upon them, and the two individuals continued on watching the two teenagers bantering with each other. Fennec felt like a lifetime ago where she was their guardian, and they are now in very different worlds where they are at opposite ends. That thought pierced her heart like the sharpest of rapiers, and it pained her to remember that they are no longer her boys. The woman known as Lilith Morningstar is now their guardian, and it seem that they would be having a decent life if it were not for Him and its lot rampaging in this city. To be part of the Rowdyruff Boys' source of danger saddens her, and she breathed a sigh.

"Even an idiot can see that you still care for these boys. What are you going to do now?" Tigress asked the French Lunatic.

"Do what, Le Tigre?"'

"You're the archer of Olympus, you know what I mean."

"Your point being?" Fennec turned towards the other Lunatic and stared.

"Your finger is on the trigger, and can you pull the trigger when it is pointed to the Rowdyruff Boys? " Tigress aimed her question at Fennec. Fennec opened her mouth to retort Tigress, but nothing came out from her lips. Fennec closed her mouth once more before looking away and it is obvious to herself that she is unable to answer. To her surprise, Tigress did not press further, and she heard the sound of the Asian Lunatic getting up.

"I am glad that I am not in your shoes." Tigress expressed her sympathy to Fennec's situation before turning away.

Fennec turned her attention back towards Tigress only to see that the woman had already left in a reddish-pink fog, leaving her alone once more. Fennec closed her eyes for a moment before turning her head to face where the Rowdyruff Boys were. As she opened her eyes, Fennec realized that during her moment of distraction the boys had already left. A sense of loneliness entered into her heart, and Fennec knew that those moments are gone forever.

[Cafe Latte, Downtown Townsville, 12.30pm]

Bubbles held on her macchiato with both her hands, but she had not taken a sip since she had held it a few minutes ago. The warmth of the coffee cup coursing through her hands is at odds with the cold numbness of her mind. Her usually bright light-blue eyes appear to be near lifeless, like those of a dead fish in a fish market. It has been in that state for a few days now, and the numbness had affected her desire to even enjoy the little things.

The image of a dark brooding Brick devouring a limb in his hands with his bright glowing crimson eyes and black scleras, framed by his blood-red hair failed to escape her mind all this while, but what made it worse is the unreasonable horror framing her regret of causing Brick staring at her with eyes clouded by a sad betrayal. She had failed him, and she had failed herself.

"Who am I kidding?" Bubbles said bitterly.

"No one but yourself." A voice responded to Bubble's bitter words.

The cafe is now painted in a red monochromatic hue and everyone within the cafe had all disappeared from view. Instead, the presence of a new person sitting before the platinum blonde Powerpuff Girl revealed the culprit of this surreal situation. A tall and lanky being is now sitting cross-legged before her, with large lobster-like claws, pointed ears, black widow's peak hair, emerald green eyes, a hooked nose, and a long, curled beard. Clad in a lady's red jacket that almost matched the hue of of its red skin, the stark contrast of the pink fur at the collar and the black leather belt and black, thigh-high, spike-heeled boots only served to create a very bold and surreal fashion statement.

"Hello dear." The black lips opened up in a wide smile, but the tone of its voice is anything but pleasant.

"Him?!"

"I just figured that I should drop by and have a chit-chat with my most favorite Powerpuff Girl."

"You're an asshole, you know that?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk.I didn't know you're such a potty-mouth Bubbles." Him answered in mock disapproval.

"Bite me." Bubbles snapped, causing a gasp from Him.

"Oh, I see a little bit of Brick had rubbed onto you. How adorable." Him chuckled.

Bubbles stood up and her eyes glowed with a bright blue light, expressing her scorn at the demon before her. The effeminate demon's words had pushed a button within her and she felt the heat growing in both her mind and her heart. It was at that moment that she realized that the cold numbness from moments ago is gone, and that scared her. To make matters worse, the demon had noticed her realization and a cruel smile crept up on its face. A cold realization washed over her simmering fury, and her heart started pounding at the sight of the demon's sinister emerald eyes.

"You...you...you planned this didn't you?" Bubbles accused the demon.

"Planned what exactly?" Him asked the Powerpuff Girl.

"You made him into that monster...you forced him to be..."

"I did make a monster out of Brick, but who is it that made the monster fell in love?" Him's remark took Bubbles off her feet, and her mind tripped over this unexpected bump.

"Hold on-" Bubbles wanted to protest, but the demon paid her no heed.

"Who is it that gave Brick the false hope that he will be accepted for who he is, only to quash it pitilessly?"

"Wait, Stop..."

"Who is it that gave him the warmth that he so desired, only to trample upon it?"

"Please...stop..."

"Who is it that walked away from Brick then right where he needed someone to be with him the most?

"Please..." Bubbles's voice is pleading with the demon, but the demon raised its claw.

"Is it me? No...that. Was. You." Him pointed its claw at Bubbles

"STOP!"

Bubbles broke the cups in her hands and she realized that tears are now running down her eyes. At that moment, she felt a warm embrace from behind her, and a pair of clawed arms wrapped around her neck. Him breathing blew gently beside her ear, and despite Bubbles realization that it is dangerous for the demon to wrap its arms around her neck, she felt a very comforting warmth spreading within her body.

"Oh...sweetie, I'm here because I want to help."

"H...Help me?" The blonde Powerpuff Girl croaked.

"Yes... But I can't do this without your help."

Bubbles felt conflicted by the demon's proposal and if her conscience were sitting on her shoulders, they would be in a very heated argument on the ethics of her internal turmoil. The demon is not even saying anything about how it can help her, and yet its voice is reassuring her that everything will be alright. Choosing the devil's deal only will damn herself and Brick, and she knew it. But there is no such thing as the angel acting as a compass to her morals, and right now there is a real demon leaning on her shoulder. She wanted to say something to refute Him, but Bubbles found no reason to refuse the demon.

"Of course if you don't want to do it... Say the words...and, I will leave both of you alone."

"I...I..." Bubbles stuttered.

"Very well then...I will take my leave." Him nodded and it released its embrace and stood up.

Him turned around and it was about to take its first step before it felt a pulling sensation on its dress. The demon turned around to see a hand holding on the edges of its dress and Him raised its eyebrow. It appeared that the same confusion flashed in Bubbles' eyes and yet her hand is not letting go of Him's clothing. Suddenly a single droplet fell upon the ground. As if rain had started to fall, the ground became stained with dark spots, one after the other. Bubbles is now crying like how a child would, tears streaming down her face. It is plain to see who the victor is, and there is nothing Bubbles can do to deny it. Bubbles sobbed, beside herself with disbelief. Him watched Bubbles for a moment before speaking once more.

"Is this what you wanted? " Him asked as it watched Bubbles' sky blue eyes filled with tears. Even with tears, her eyes are beautiful. Bubbles turned around, her expression as if she was possessed by a ghost. Her silence answered for her and a smile crept on Him's lips, damning Bubbles to the choice she had made.

"Very well...I believe we can make the appropriate accomodations..." A dark and sinister voice exited Him's lips and it is the voice of a hunter that had successfully ensnared its prey in an inescapable grip.